System for tracking and analyzing display case usage

ABSTRACT

A system for tracking and analyzing display case usage is disclosed. The system preferably includes a display case having a door and a transparent liquid crystal display (LCD) housed within said door. A CPU is preferably in electrical connection with the transparent LCD as well as a door sensor. The CPU is adapted to store information regarding the content being shown on the LCD and whether the door is open or closed. A network connection allows the CPU to transmit this information to a remote location. A temperature sensor can also be in electrical connection with the CPU in some embodiments and this data can also be stored and transmitted to a remote location.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/013,917 filed on Jun. 18, 2014 and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. This application also claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/013,225 filed on Jun. 17, 2014 and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/012,559 filed on Jun. 16, 2014 and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments generally relate to systems for tracking and analyzing the use of transparent liquid crystal displays (LCD) within display cases.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

Display cases are used in a number of different retail establishments for illustrating the products that are available for sale. In some instances these display cases may be coolers or freezers which are placed in grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, or other retail establishments. In other instances these display cases may be non-refrigerated transparent containers used in a jewelry or watch store, bakery, deli, antique shop, sporting goods store, electronics store, or other retail establishments. While the design and appearance of the product itself does provide some point-of-sale (POS) advertising, it has been found that additional advertising at the POS can increase the awareness of a product and in turn create additional sales.

Most retail establishments already contain some POS advertising, and depending on the type of establishment the proprietor may want to limit the amount of ‘clutter’ in the retail area—resulting in a very limited space for additional POS advertising. It has now become desirable to utilize the transparent glass that is typically placed in display cases with additional POS advertising. Most notably, it has been considered that transparent LCDs may be positioned along with the transparent glass and could display additional advertising materials while still allowing a patron to view the products inside the display case.

SUMMARY OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

An exemplary embodiment provides a system for tracking and analyzing display case usage. An exemplary display case contains a CPU and door sensor, as well as a connection to the internet or cellular network. Some display cases may also contain a temperature sensor. When the door is opened, an identifier for the image/video being currently shown is preferably stored at the CPU along with the date and time the door was opened. This data can be collected and transmitted via an internet/cellular network to an operations center having a CPU. In this way, the data can be analyzed to determine the traffic through the display case as well as the effectiveness of the images/videos being shown. By using the system and method described herein, the energy efficiency can be increased as well as the effectiveness of the advertisements.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the particular embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of an exemplary embodiment will be obtained from a reading of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein identical reference characters refer to identical parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerated display case having a transparent LCD assembly.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the refrigerated display case of FIG. 1 where the door has been opened.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the refrigerated display case of FIG. 1 showing the cavity for electronic devices as well as the location of Detail A.

FIG. 4 is a front view of Detail A shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a lower mounting plate and various electronic devices.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an upper mounting plate.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the display case looking at the vertical interior door jamb.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the display case looking at the horizontal bottom edge of the door and door frame.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the display case where a video is being shown on the transparent LCD.

FIG. 10 is a logic flow chart for operating the hardware and software within the display case.

FIG. 11 is a graphical representation of the data collected by the hardware and software described above.

FIG. 12 is an electrical schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of the system for tracking and analyzing display case usage.

FIG. 13 is a logical flowchart that can be performed by the operations center and the computing devices utilized therein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference to illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of the invention. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments of the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerated display case 50 having a transparent LCD 200. Generally, the display case includes a housing 105, to which a door frame assembly 100 is fastened. In this embodiment, a cavity 110 is provided below the door frame assembly 100 where various electronic devices 111 for operating the transparent LCD assembly 200 can be located. The electrical devices 111 may include any or all of the following: power modules, timing and control board (TCON), video player, CPU, wireless transmitter/receiver, cellular data transmitter/receiver, and internet connectivity. At least some of the electrical devices 111 are in electrical communication with the transparent LCD 200.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the refrigerated display case of FIG. 1 where the door has been opened. The transparent LCD 200 is preferably sandwiched between a front glass 225 and rear glass 205. Also preferably sandwiched between the front and rear glass 225/205 is an upper plate 216 and a lower plate 215, each of which are preferably attached to the rear glass 205 such that heat from the plates can be conductively transferred to the rear glass 205 and removed by natural or forced convection.

In an exemplary embodiment, the upper and lower plates 216/215 are preferably bonded to the rear glass 205 through adhesive transfer tape. An exemplary adhesive transfer tape for this purpose would be 468 MP, available commercially from 3M™ of St. Paul, Minn. www.3M.com/converter. In order to illuminate the transparent LCD 200, one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) each containing a plurality of LEDs is preferably in conductive thermal communication with either the upper, lower, or both plates. In this way, heat that is generated by the LEDs can be transmitted to the PCB and eventually transferring to the rear glass 205 where the heat can dissipate through natural or forced convection.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the refrigerated display case of FIG. 1 showing the cavity for electronic devices as well as the location of Detail A. Also shown in this figure is the temperature sensor 620 which is in electrical communication with the CPU 455. The term CPU as used herein would preferably contain a microprocessor capable of executing software logic along with RAM storage as well as hard drive electronic storage. FIG. 4 is a front view of Detail A shown in FIG. 3. Here, a wireless transmitter/receiver 450 is shown within the cavity 110 as well as a CPU 455. Also shown here is a door sensor 600 which is positioned to determine whether the door is currently open or not. The door sensor 600 is preferably in electrical communication with the CPU 455, which contains an electrical connection to either an internet or satellite network.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a lower mounting plate 215 and various electronic devices 400 in electrical communication with the LCD 200. A second wireless transmitter/receiver 455 is positioned on the lower mounting plate 215 and communicates electronically with the wireless transmitter/receiver 450 shown within the cavity 110. A plurality of different signals can be transmitted between the two wireless devices 450/455 including but not limited to: image/video data, visual alerts, image inspection/test patterns, temperature of the display case, and feedback data from the LCD 200 such as brightness, color saturation, color temperature, gamma, and contrast ratio.

As noted above, preferably the electronic devices 400 are in conductive thermal communication with the plate 215 which is preferably bonded to and in conductive thermal communication with the rear glass 205 so that heat generated by the electronic devices 400 can be removed. Similarly, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the upper mounting plate 216, which can also be used to mount various electronic devices and is also preferably bonded to and in conductive thermal communication with the rear glass 205.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the display case looking at the vertical interior door jamb. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the display case looking at the horizontal bottom edge of the door and door frame. As can be observed in these Figures, no wiring is necessary to run the signals for the various data laid out above between the wireless devices 450/455. Not only does this provide an aesthetically pleasing look, but it also prevent wires from being tampered with or harmed through use of the display case or through the malicious intent of the general public.

The wireless devices 450/455 can operate under any form of wireless networking technology, including but not limited to: WPAN, WLAN, a wireless mesh network, or GAN. Specifically regarding the architecture for a WLAN network, these could include but are not limited to stations, basic service set, extended service set, and a distribution system. Further regarding the types of wireless LANs, these could include but are not limited to peer-to-peer, bridge, and a wireless distribution system. Any form of general encryption method can be used with the exemplary embodiments herein.

The embodiments of the wireless communication and transparent LCD system described herein can be used with any number of display case designs, either temperature controlled or not, and with doors that open or glass that remains stationary. Although shown here with a transparent LCD, the wireless system could be used with a traditional backlit LCD as well.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the display case where a video is being shown on the transparent LCD 200.

FIG. 10 is a logic flow chart for operating the hardware and software within the display case, specifically the CPU 455 and door sensor 600. By operating with this logic, the date/time as well as an identifier for the particular video/image being shown can be stored.

FIG. 11 is a graphical representation of the data collected by the hardware and software described above. Once the data is collected, low traffic and high traffic throughout the day can be analyzed. This traffic data can be useful in many ways. For example, it may be determined that it is preferred to hold the temperature of the display case at 32 degrees F. when the door is opened more than 100 times per hour, but only 35 degrees F. when the door is opened less than 50 times per hour. In this way, the usage rate and temperature of the display case can be correlated in order to save energy costs. For example, we know that we can now raise the temperature of the display case to 35 degrees F. from hours 0-6, 18, and 23-24 without risking damage to the contents. This requires less energy and can provide enormous cost savings when used for thousands of display cases.

FIG. 12 is an electrical schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of the system for tracking and analyzing display case usage. Here, a plurality of display cases 50 are in communication with an internet/cellular network 70. Here, an operations center contains at least one CPU 40 which can communicate with the plurality of display cases 50 through the internet/cellular network 70. Generally speaking, if the internet/cellular network 70 is only internet, the CPU 455 and CPU 40 should each have some type of modem. Also generally speaking, if the internet/cellular network 70 is only cellular, the CPU 455 and CPU 40 should each have some type of cellular transmitter/receiver, and preferably a 4G cellular transmitter/receiver.

FIG. 13 is a logical flowchart that can be performed by the operations center and the computing devices utilized therein. Initially, the number of door openings per hour for each day can be averaged over the last X days (where X could be any number of days) to get an hourly average (AVG). Then, the number of openings per hour for any sample day can be compared with their corresponding AVG for that hour. Next, the logic can determine if the openings during any of the hours during the sample day exceed the hourly average by Y % or more (where Y can be set at any significant percentage depending on the data, but generally should be 15% or higher). If so, the identifier for the video/image being shown during that time is stored as a successful advertisement. In this way, advertisements that appear to create the most traffic within the cooler can be tracked or recorded so that these advertisements can be shown more often or so that future advertisements can be designed around the successful advertisements of the past. This provides the content providers with an unprecedented amount of control over their advertising, and specifically the effectiveness of their advertising.

It should be noted that, although the above embodiments deal mostly with the number of door openings per hour, this could be performed by the number of openings during any time interval, either in minutes, hours, full days, or any combination. The system could also be used to determine the number of openings during each video segment, average these values (optionally), standardize the averages based on how long the video's were to obtain a number of openings per second/minute, and/or determine which videos created the highest number of openings.

Having shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, those skilled in the art will realize that many variations and modifications may be made to affect the described invention and still be within the scope of the claimed invention. Additionally, many of the elements indicated above may be altered or replaced by different elements which will provide the same result and fall within the spirit of the claimed invention. It is the intention, therefore, to limit the invention only as indicated by the scope of the claims. 

I claim:
 1. A system for tracking an analyzing display case usage comprising: a display case having a door; a transparent liquid crystal display (LCD) housed within the door; a sensor positioned to detect whether the door is open; and a CPU in electrical connection with the transparent LCD and the sensor; wherein the CPU stores data from the door sensor regarding whether the door has been opened and data representing content displayed on the transparent LCD when the door is opened.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein: the CPU is in electrical connection with a network to transmit door sensor data to a remote location.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein: the network is the internet.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein: the network is a cellular network.
 5. The system of claim 2, further comprising: a temperature sensor in electrical connection with the CPU.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a front glass; and a rear glass; wherein the transparent LCD is sandwiched between the front glass and the rear glass.
 7. The system of claim 6, further comprising: an upper plate affixed to the rear glass and extending above the LCD; and a lower plate affixed to the rear glass and extending below the LCD.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein: the upper plate and the lower plate are in thermal communication with the rear glass.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein: the CPU is affixed to the lower plate.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein: the display case further comprises a first and second cavity; wherein the first cavity is configured to store a plurality of consumer products and the second cavity is configured to store a wireless transmitter/receiver.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein: the first cavity is refrigerated and the second cavity is not.
 12. A system for tracking and analyzing display case usage comprising: a transparent liquid crystal display (LCD) mounted in a display cabinet; a CPU in electrical connection with the LCD and adapted to store data regarding content being displayed on the LCD; a sensor in electrical connection with the CPU and positioned to detect when the cabinet is open; wherein the CPU collects data regarding the content being displayed on the LCD and whether the door has been opened while this content is being displayed.
 13. The system of claim 12, further comprising: a door having a front glass and a rear glass, wherein the transparent LCD is located between the front and the rear glass. 